Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
PROS:
CONS:
TunnelBear has its pros and cons. We really liked its interface, the ease of use, its great privacy policy and the fact that it has a free plan. On the downside, TunnelBear is a bit slow in performance, doesn’t offer live chat support and doesn’t have specialized servers.
TunnelBear was developed by the company with the same name, which is based in Canada. TunnelBear was founded in 2011 and in 2018 was acquired by McAfee.
TunnelBear has 3 plans to choose from:
One of the best things about TunnelBear is its ease of use. Whereas most VPNs give you headaches and make you deal with specific tech terms, TunnelBear simplifies everything for their users and manages to stay user-friendly even for beginners/ non-tech users.
Prices with TunnelBear are below average and you can also go with their Free plan, although it is quite limited. A thing you should know about the TunnelBear pricing is that you don’t get a money-back guarantee when you sign up, so make sure and do your homework thoroughly before taking a decision you might regret in the future.
How it works and ease of use
TunnelBear allows you to use up to 5 devices on a single account (regardless of the plan you opt for), which is about the average in this industry.
This VPN can be used with macOS, iOS, Windows and Android and in terms of plugins, with Chrome and Opera, but unfortunately, not Mozilla Firefox.
Getting started with TunnelBear is an easy job. You just download the software for the type of device you are using, then drag and drop the software icon into your app folder. You can choose between the TunnelBear VPN opening automatically at start up, and opening it manually just when you need to use it.
The TunnelBear interface has been updated and looks quite modern and funny. It has a colorful, more cartoonish design. You’ve got a world map with all their servers, and once you choose a location and turn on the protection, you’ll see an animation with a bear tunneling away. You also get a bear with different hats specific for the country of your server.
TunnelBear has over 1,500 servers in 20 countries worldwide, including countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America and Australia. Africa and the Middle East are missing though.
TunnelBear allows up to 5 simultaneous connections.
Privacy
When it comes to respecting your privacy, TunnelBear is among the most impressive provider we’ve seen so far. They clearly state that they don’t collect IP addresses upon connection, when visiting their website, or any information about the apps/services/sites accessed by users while using TunnelBear.
TunnelBear uses the OpenVPN protocol and AES-256 encryption.
One useful feature worth mentioning is the VigilantBear, which is a kill switch that stops all traffic in case TunnelBear drops, to avoid any unwanted data leakage.
TunnelBear allows torrenting and you can also access Neetflix content while using it.
TunnelBear is a good option to consider if you are willing to go for one of their paid tiers or if you just need a VPN for occasional use. It is great for beginners because it is really easy to use, the updated interface looks really nice and TunnelBear has plenty of servers throughout the world. However, this VPN service is not among the fastest we’ve tested, nor is it the most complex. It lacks specialized servers, doesn’t work with Firefox and it’s not supported by game consoles or routers.
In addition to the Free plan, TunnelBear also offers a Grizzly plan ($5/month if you pay a year up-front) and a Giant
When it comes to speed, all VPNs will have an impact on your device’s performance, despite their claims of being ‘the fastest out there’. Unfortunately, TunnelBear didn’t manage to obtain the best results in that regard, proving to be quite slow compared to major competitors. TunnelBear got average download speeds at best and disappointing latency results in domestic server tests. We also encountered a few connection drop during our tests. As unbelievable and illogically as it might seem, TunnelBear got better results on the international tests.
The Free plan will work decently when simply streaming video and music, but then again, at a limit of 500MB/month, you’ll most likely only use the VPN occasionally.
Upload speeds with TunnelBear are better.
Social media: Facebook, Twitter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tunnelbear
Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
By: Kurtis | Last updated October 17, 2018 
